A small and vigorous black hole in the early Universe

This paper presents an extensive analysis of the JWST-NIRSpec spectrum of GN-z11, a highly luminous galaxy at redshift z = 10.6. The analysis reveals the presence of [Ne V]λ2423 and C II*λ1335 transitions, along with semi-forbidden nebular lines indicating high gas densities. These features strongly suggest the presence of an accreting black hole within GN-z11. A blueshifted CIVλ1549 absorption trough indicates a high-velocity outflow, likely driven by the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Based on virial relations, the black hole mass is estimated at log(M_BH/M_☉) = 6.2 ± 0.3, accreting at approximately five times the Eddington rate. These findings support both heavy seed and light/intermediate seed scenarios with super-Eddington phases, explaining GN-z11's high luminosity and nitrogen abundance.

Roberto Maiolino, Jan Scholtz, Joris Witstok, Stefano Carniani, Francesco D’Eugenio, Anna de Graaff, Hannah Übler, Sandro Tacchella, Emma Curtis-Lake, Santiago Arribas, Andrew Bunker, Stéphane Charlot, Jacopo Chevallard, Mirko Curti, Tobias J. Looser, Michael V. Maseda, Timothy D. Rawle, Bruno Rodríguez del Pino, Chris J. Willott, Eiichi Egami, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Kevin N. Hainline, Brant Robertson, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, William M. Baker, Kristan Boyett, Christa DeCoursey, Andrew C. Fabian, Jakob M. Helton, Zhiyuan Ji, Gareth C. Jones, Nimisha Kumari, Nicolas Laporte, Erica J. Nelson, Michele Perna, Lester Sandles, Irene Shivaei, Fengwu Sun